Earned wage access is a financial service that allows employees to access accrued income before the end of their payroll schedule. For example, an employee paid at the end of the month can access some of their income a few days before that date.
(Which is why this service is also sometimes referred to as “early wage access”.)
This product category is trending because an increasing number of startups now offer it as a standalone service. Which is allowing businesses to offer earned wage access as an employee perk.
For example, Tapcheck is a startup offering earned wage access. The platform is currently used by over 1,000 organizations.
PayActiv is another trending startup in the space.
What’s Next
Earned wage access is part of the Payroll Fintech meta trend.
Fintech has the potential to disrupt the traditional payroll process.
For example, payroll payment cycles can take up to 3 days. But FinTech solutions can reduce this to seconds.
Examples of trending FinTech startups offering payroll solutions include Oyster HR, Papaya Global and Deel.